Rigatoni with cavolo nero and olive oil
Serves: 6
Prep time: 20 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Maja Smend
Rigatoni with cavolo nero and olive oil
This pasta is the celebration of two ingredients that arrive at the same moment in the year – cavolo nero and the first pressed, peppery extra virgin olive oil
Serves: 6
Prep time: 20 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
500Kcal
Fat
21gr
Saturates
3gr
Carbs
61gr
Sugars
3gr
Fibre
8gr
Protein
13gr
Salt
0.9gr
The River Cafe
Founded by Ruth Rogers, The River Cafe is celebrating its 30th birthday this year
See more of The River Cafe’s recipes
The River Cafe
Founded by Ruth Rogers, The River Cafe is celebrating its 30th birthday this year
See more of The River Cafe’s recipes
Ingredients
- 500g cavolo nero leaves
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 150ml good quality extra virgin olive oil – new season if possible
- 500g rigatoni
- 60g Parmesan, grated
Step by step
Get ahead
The sauce will keep for up to 2 days in the fridge, covered, but will darken with time, so is best served fresh, or frozen, in batches.
- Remove the stalks from the cavolo nero leaves and discard, but keep the leaves whole. Blanch them in a generous amount of boiling salted water along with the garlic cloves for 5 minutes (do this in 2 batches if necessary). Drain well. Put the blanched cavolo nero and garlic into a food processor and pulse-chop to a purée. In the last couple of seconds of blending, pour in about 100ml of the extra virgin olive oil. This will make a fairly liquid, dark green purée. Season generously with salt and pepper.
-
Cook the rigatoni in a large pan of boiling salted water until al dente, then drain thoroughly. Put the pasta into a bowl, add the sauce and stir until each piece is thickly coated. Pour over the remaining extra virgin olive oil and serve
with Parmesan.
Recipe taken from River Cafe 30 by Ruth Rogers, Rose Gray, Joseph Trivelli and Sian Wyn Owen (Ebury Press, £28).
